AD

The Long Journey of Interactive Play: From Pac-Man to Online Games

Over the course of history, the entertainment industry has undergone remarkable evolution. Consistent progressive strides made in technology and computer engineering have continuously redrawn the landscape of interactive game play, equipping game developers with the capabilities to produce increasingly engaging and complex games.

Trends have come and gone while some have made permanent homes for themselves in the entertainment world. Classics such as Pac-Man in arcade halls to Pokémon and the latest phenomenon to take over the world, online casino games, have all taken their place on the entertainment evolution timeline and demonstrate the improvements made in tech and software to pave the way for new avenues of entertainment.

Where it all began

Interactive videogames first emerged on the scene in the late 1950’s with the release of Tennis for Two and from that moment, a new branch of interactive entertainment was created. As a result of this phenomenon, more research was launched into computer science, and more emphasis was placed on improving technology to produce more innovative, interactive entertainment options. It is safe to say that innovators have succeeded. But what are the main reasons behind this success?

The Computer

The release of games such as Tennis for Two and Spacewar! were only made possible due to the invention of the computer. The first computers go nowhere near to resembling the high-powered machines of the modern era, but the PDP-1 will always go down as the most crucial for launching the videogames industry. As a machine that was more reminiscent of a sonar machine in a submarine or a device to decrypt morse code, computer scientists were able to programme simple movements into the computer to create interactive challenges on the round screen.

Over time, computer hardware and components have evolved to produce devices with increasingly higher operating potential, quicker processing time, greater memory, and storage capacities, eventually leading to smaller and more convenient devices such as laptops and tablets. For interactive games however, the advancements in computer graphics from vector lines to the 3D dimension is arguably the biggest game changer with even the most basic concepts of games such as online slots given more character with in-game animations and effects.

The Internet

If computers gave interactive games the platform to succeed, the internet gave these games the opportunity to spread their wings. The introduction of the internet on 1st January 1983 will also go down in history as a life changing piece of tech. With the ability to transfer data across networks and later, international borders, the concept of online gaming was born.

Titles such as Doom and Meridian 59 in the early stages of the internet and World Wide Web era paved the way for popular modern-day games such as Call of Duty and DOTA 2 to rule the multiplayer universe. In the present day, the ultimate recognition of interactive gaming is represented by esports, which has transformed online multiplayer gaming into competitive sporting action on a global scale.

The Next Step

Even in the present day, game play is evolving with new technologies such as Virtual Reality (VR) expected to take interactive game play to another level. Right now, esports and online casinos are currently carrying the torch for the most interactive games in the current era and carry the digital footprint that looks to also form the future of entertainment. While the journey of interactive game play has been a lengthy one, there are still plenty more chapters to write in this story.